Tugman State Park

(+5 insets!) Safe Dental Visits During Covid?! YES!!! Steve and I have been wanting to go to the dentist now for ages! Both of us have needed work done--from normal cleaning to extreme procedures--but everything's transpired against us! The financial burden was the biggest problem but a while back we got a new medical plan which has made it feasible to schedule appointments. But at the same time…COVID became a thing. Just thinking about the issues of dentistry, germs, proximity, potential spreading…Steve and I threw our hands in the air and put it off. For a whole year! Did You Know a Pistachio Shell Can Become a Tiny Bear Trap? One day I was eating pistachio nuts, shelling them and munching happily. I used my teeth to crack open a shell as I often do, but this time the shell slipped and closed like a bear trap…right on my lower frenulum just in front of my front teeth (a frenulum or frenum is the little stretchy connection between your gum and lip, above and below. Also under your tongue…and there's another one too, look it up!) The odds of this accident happening were ridiculously low but there I stood, looking in the bathroom mirror, unable to get the mini bear trap off my frenulum. I finally succeeded but in so doing, caused a bad injury which really hurt! However, I also knew that mouth sores heal really fast and I figured this would heal quickly too. To be sure, I searched the internet and learned that injuries of this sort are common in little kids who often fall on their faces, etc. Poor little guys! Poor me! :D I kept an eye on it. Time passed. Days…weeks, nearly a month, and it still hadn't healed! I was worried about Covid but I was worried about my mouth too. Looking into dental safety procedures, I learned that they are really careful. I was surprised and encouraged by this, and when Steve called to ask about coming in, our dentist staff explained everything they do. We were convinced it would be fine and with that…we made an appointment to check out my injury. Our Dentist is Totally Safe! We went to my appointment and the safeguards were awesome. Only one person in the waiting area, required masks and hand washing, sanitizer, temperature check and checklist of where I'd been and so forth…and when I was called back to my room, everything was perfectly clean--even the places where the staff touched were replaceable tapes to keep everything sanitary. The dentist looked at my injury and as I suspected, told me that I just need to be patient. Sometimes those injuries take longer to heal but it wasn't infected. I just needed to wait. *sigh* Ok…but you know what? The very best thing happened: we learned that it would ok to go to the dentist!! Teeth Cleaning and Dental Work! Both Steve and I set up appointments for teeth cleaning, checkups, filling replacements and much more. It's been really super. Today I am sitting here with a very puffy face because I got a badly-needed gum graft for a terribly receded gum. Day two and I'm doing well, so delighted to have the procedure done! And Steve's had work done with more scheduled to come. We've been to two different offices--dentist and periodontist--and in each case, they've been fastidiously clean and careful. What a relief to finally get our teeth cared for, hooray!! Go To The Dentist…It's Safe! If you've been like us, you've been putting off your dental visits because of Covid worries. However, if our dentist is any indication of how the majority of dental offices are handling safety, there is nothing to worry about! Naturally, everyone is different. Call beforehand and grill your dental office on what their procedures are for sanitizing and caring for patients, and for staff safety too. Use normal care--touch nothing if you can help it, etc. You owe it to your mouth! Go to the dentist! :) Today's Picture It's Happy Fence Friday and I'm sharing a picture of one of the lovely little bridges I crossed each morning on my daily Tugman walk around the edge of Eel Lake. There are four bridges in all on this short hike--what a surprise that such a lot of effort was made for this minor trail, but I sure loved being able to walk along without hopping over streams or miring in muddy slop. The trail makers did a bang-up job and I appreciated the heck out of this gorgeous path every day! Insets I'm including five more pictures of a few sights on this trail--I have so many to add! Today I'm including another trail picture with a tree's branches sweeping over the trail; a pictures of one of the trees along the way which has a fascinating, toe-like trunk; a wonderful image of water at the shore with beautiful rippled and a water plant; a tiny trio of velvety-looking mushrooms I found; and finally, some colorful leaves that caught my eye. Thank You! I really appreciate all of your visits, comments and favorites! Also, I apologize for not stopping by recently, there's been so much going on! But you'll be seeing me today, yay! Please stay safe and once again…the dentist is SAFE to visit! Take care of your chompers, they will appreciate it, and you'll be so much happier! :) Explored on 2/13/29; highest placement #4.

(+7 insets!) Stop #3 of our 2020 Escaping Covid trip: Tugman State Park Leaving Bullard's Beach after a wonderful week of fun, relaxation and adventure, we headed north for a new campground destination. Tugman State Park would turn out to be so wonderful that it now sits on our list of favorite Oregon State Parks! Family Planning Not Quite According to Plan! Before we found out that campgrounds were open again, Steve's sister called to let us know that things had changed. She lives in California (about 700 miles south in the Los Angeles metropolitan area) and since we had an RV, she thought it was high time we got together for part of our trips. So she and Steve coordinated a spot where we could hang out and that turned out to be Tugman State Park! However, our desire to reserve a nice long stay proved to be impossible. We ended up reserving four nights, followed by a two-night stay at a "glorified parking lot" private RV park, and then seven more nights at Tugman. Not ideal but at least the private RV park was only 45 minutes away. Tugman State Park Located just to the side of the lovely and large Eel Lake, this campground features closely-connected loops that are nested within each other--something that I haven't found in other parks. The result is a fairly compact park that can be a bit confusing when trying to remember where your camping spot is. This campground has three unique and wonderful aspects: two trails which are just a walk from the campground, and of course, the lake itself. The shorter of the two trails is just 1.1 miles but don't let the length disappoint you--that wonderful trail will have me returning forever! It leads in and out of the forest and around the western shore--it's absolutely perfect to start each day with. I looked forward to every walk I went on and just thinking about it now makes me wish I were there! The trail terminates in benches that are perched on a spot that juts just a bit into the lake. Sitting there or standing out and looking at the twinkling lake, there are few places to match this tranquil beauty. The 6.1-mile hike along the eastern shore is outstanding and gorgeous, leading through the mixed conifer and deciduous forest and peeking out on the lake here and there with benches for anyone needing breaks. Finally, the lake itself is stunning and fantastic for canoeing or kayaking, or for those who'd like to try catching a fish. Today's Pictures I discovered that I've only posted a couple of pictures from our stay here so I'll be sharing pictures from our stay in this area for a few days! :) Today I'm featuring the perfect picture for Happy Bench Monday! Would you just LOOK at that crazy bench?! It sits at the end of the short trail I started every day with. As you can see from one of the insets, the view is wonderful! My insets show some of the beautiful things I saw on my walk and I'll be posting other pictures in the coming days to add to this. I hope that you are all doing well. At our house it's very cold, snowy, rainy, mucky and pretty miserable outside, but in the afternoons it's sometimes gorgeous and sunny! Crazy weather! Stay safe and thank you so much for all of your marvelous comments and stars--your visits mean so much to me! Explored on 2/9/29; highest placement #1.

Lovely Little Morning Hikes! Steve and I spent several days at a wonderful place called William Tugman State Park, a spot we immediately fell in love with! Unfortunately, we couldn't be there more than three days but we are booked for four more in a week's time, so all is not lost! :D This park rates really high for me because there are hikes that leave from the campsite itself, and that means that my daily morning walk gets to be a lovely hike to start my day! How awesome is that?! Walk With Me! A fun stroll around this small campground's combined A, B, and C Loops lead me out the main road and past the pullout to the tidy garbage and RV dump area. A bit further is a beautiful, mowed and tree-studded meadow with a meandering cement walk that leads past a cute little playground, a handsome gazebo and picnic tables placed here and there in the meadow. Twinkling views of the nicely-sized Eel Lake take over and we arrive at a perfect dock for fishing, with a boat launch beside it. The water is cobalt-blue and sparkling with sunshine catching every ripple. The breeze is fragrant and just the right temperature...it's so nice. If it's early enough, walking out on the dock will reveal a host of salamanders swimming around in the water just below the surface! Incredible! Past the boat launch is a short, yet absolutely idyllic walking trail that leads about half a mile around the left side of the lake (1.1 mile total), and that is my morning walk for the three days we are here! Just before the trail disappears into the fern and fir-studded forest, we pass by an outbuilding of some sort. It is surrounded by cyclone fencing, and in front of the fence are beautiful masses of clover flowers in full bloom. Perfect for today's picture, no?! :) I'll write more about this pretty trail at my next opportunity! I got lots of wonderful pictures with my beloved macro lens when I took my favorite camera with me on one of my walks! I hope everyone is doing GREAT! Stay safe! Explored on 7/18/20; highest placement #1.

(+ 1 inset!) This is just a quick post so I can participate in this weekly event! About this Picture This image was taken at the third stop of our trip last season. There is a wonderful hike I went on every morning and I walked past a utility building surrounded by a cyclone fence. There were bunches of flowers in the grass and I got some really lucky shots including this dandelion fluff! (I have also included another inset with a lovely clover in full bloom at the same location!) Have a lovely day and stay safe! Explored on 1/25/29; highest placement #1.

(+6 insets!) "I Caught a Salamander!" On one of my morning walks I took a camera with me to capture some of the beautiful things I saw every day at Tugman State Park. I had a specific mission though. I made a bee-line for the Eel Lake dock because I hoped to get some pictures of a wonderful and unusual sight I'd discovered the other day. In the early morning, if you looked carefully, you could see salamanders swimming around! They were so darned cute! This is something I've never seen in my whole life! (I believe these are juvenile Coastal Giant Salamanders, Dicamptodon tenebrosus .) Moving slowly around the wooden dock, I got some neat images of barely-visible salamanders swimming along just under the surface. I guess they must live under the dock…perhaps on the wood? In the mud under water? I don't know for sure but I was full of joy as I saw each one, cooing happily at their cuteness. At the same time as I was there, a father and his young daughter and son were there. Dad was fishing while his kids were laying on the deck with hands positioned over the water. They were hoping to catch salamanders and had a water-filled bucket next to them if they got lucky. "I CAUGHT ONE!!!" I looked over to see the young boy with an ear-to-ear grin, standing up with a salamander held very gently in his hands. He saw me looking with my matching smile and asked if I would like to see his new little friend. "YES!" I exclaimed and asked if I could take a picture. He said sure and I got a nod from Dad before I captured the image you see as today's main image. I love this shot. It clearly shows how gently the salamander is being held and though the salamander doesn't look exactly thrilled, it's not freaked-out, which makes me happy! Before I turned to go, the children said they were going to catch all the salamanders they could until Dad was done fishing and then they would let them go. I couldn't help but look back on my own adventures of capturing little salamanders under bricks in San Francisco when I was their age! :) Other Insets I'm including a salamander under the water, a darling chipmunk that posed for me, and a close-up portrait. I'm also sharing images of a lovely garter snake I discovered on the trail. It was so relaxed that it took about five minutes to slowly make its way over the trail and off into the bushes. :) I hope you're all doing well today! Stay safe, warm and dry on this cold, wet day! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! Explored on 2/13/29; highest placement #3.

(+5 insets!) Photography is an Opportunity for Never-ending Education! I've always been a curious little monkey with a passion for nature. But the moment I I began taking pictures so many years ago, that fascination brought a new interest and opportunity for me. I wanted to know more about the things I took pictures of--what a great way to learn more about the world around me! That passion to learn is one of the countless reasons I love photography. Normally, we see something interesting that is soon forgotten. But with a picture, we can investigate freely. What a great way to educate myself! And, with online communities like ipernity, I have the opportunity to share what I learn with all of you too! :) Today's Pictures On my daily walk around the edge of Eel Lake at William Tugman State Park, I got to enjoy seeing the pretty water plants that floated just off-shore in one spot. I didn't know exactly what they were so today I spent some time educating myself. The main picture is the disintegrating leaf from a water plant called Western Water Shield (Brassia schreberi) . It does look like a shield, doesn't it?! This plant is well-established world-wide without a definitive origin and listed as an Oregon native. It can be invasive though and grows massive carpets of floating leaves over ponds and lakes. The flowers are small and purple but sadly weren't in bloom when I got my pictures (Here's a Google Search if you'd like to see what they look like! :) I adore water lilies and any other floating plants so I really enjoyed taking pictures of this plant. I loved how the leaves looked as they disintegrated, with fiery colors in the leaf holding on to the very end. I've got several others as insets to show a close-up of a pretty pair of leaves, and how they carpet the area where they grow. I'm also sharing an image of another water plant called a Spatterdock (Nuphar advena) that has several pairs of mating blue damselflies on it! A shame I couldn’t get closer but they are still quite visible! Last but not least, another picture of the lovely water at the shore. I never tire of the twinkling, abstract quality of the moving water…isn't it beautiful? :) Thank You!! Thank you so much for your visits, stars and comments…but also, thank you for providing me with such a wonderful experience when I see what you're sharing with everyone today! I love my virtual trips around the world, holding your hand and peering through your lens! What fun…you guys are awesome and so inspiring. :) Please take care of yourselves and stay safe, dry and warm! :) Explored on 2/16/29; highest placement #3.

(+5 insets!) Today's Quick Post There were so many beautiful plants to photograph on my daily walk around the edge of Eel Lake. Of course, it was impossible to resist taking more pictures of one of my favorite subjects--ferns! In fact, as I usually do, I got too many winner shots because ferns are such divas! Today I'm sharing some of the beautiful ferns and also some more pretty leaves I found too. Enjoy! Explored on 2/18/21; highest placement #1.

(+5 insets!) Today's Quick Post: Get Closer! My main picture today is one of those cool lessons you discover about macro photography. This dead fern frond is something most wouldn't notice. Why? It's dead. Furthermore, the color conditions us to ignore it because we've learned that brown plants = dead = boring. But if you get close to a dead plant, you'll often be greeted by a surprise like this one: new and interesting detail that you've never noticed before! Macro photography has taught me that even the most supposedly boring subjects can actually be extremely interesting and memorable! I now make sure to study all parts of a plant--both live and dead--because you never know what fantastic surprises lay in wait! :) Today's Pictures I'm featuring the other fern pictures I processed from my walk around the edge of Eel Lake at William Tugman State Park. I've also included a wonderful dead leaf with dramatic coloring and an interesting shape which I couldn't resist. :) I hope you are all doing great and have a lovely weekend in store! Explored on 2/20/21; highest placement #2.

(+5 insets!) Keep Your Eyes Open: You Never Know What You'll Find! Steve and I spent an absolutely wonderful week at William Tugman State Park and every morning I started it with a walk on the 1.1 mile trail around the edge of Eel Lake. What a gorgeous trail--it had everything! A lovely view of the lake, a meandering, well-maintained trail that meandered through a deep forest along its edge, four cool foot bridges to cross, and so much flora and fauna along the way! I only took my camera with me a few times but it was a good thing I warned Steve that I'd left the trailer with one because without fail I took twice as long to get back because I kept finding fabulous subjects to capture! Today's Pictures When I was returning from the end of the path where it terminates at a bench overlooking Eel Lake, I saw a bright red flash on a branch. Taking a closer look, I discovered a pretty hair clip adorned with a red bow. Apparently a little girl had lost it while frolicking and somebody else came along and clipped it onto a branch when they found it laying on the trail. Then I arrived and recognized the opportunity for a cool picture! Huzzah! :) Today's Insets I'm sharing another trail shot, a lovely wild grass head festooned with pollen, and two ripening thimbleberries in the center of their perfect star-shaped sepals; I'm also including a very cool sight: what looks like a flower is actually the opened and ripening seed pod of a Trillium. Finally, you'll see the shadow-play that I saw in my bedroom one morning before I rolled up the blind. I am often mesmerized by this show if we happen to be positioned where the shadows of a bush or tree are cast on my window shade. The shadows will often move back and forth, sometimes changing shape and paralyzing me as I enjoy the show. Thank You! I really can't tell you exactly how nice it feels that you have all been enjoying my pictures so much. It makes me feel so giddy! It's my wish to make you smile, feel surprised, make you think, present you with something new or transport you away from troublesome thoughts. If I can do that, I feel that I've been successful, and when you let me know…I just can't help but beam from ear to ear! Thanks so much. And the visits to your streams take me on amazing trips around the world and into your hearts, expressed by your photography. It's a pretty cool relationship we have, isn't it?! You're all terrific. :) Have a great day and please stay safe and healthy!! Explored on 2/22/21; highest placement #3.